World's End: Descent
by Shunyata Ryuen
Summary: The mikos have failed to arrive, and the world is in chaos, leaving the Creator no choice but to wipe the world clean and start again—but, it will mean destroying everything. Can the dragon god and the Suzaku seishi save it before it's too late?
1. Prologue: Departure of the Dragon God

**DISCLAIMER:**  Fushigi Yuugi and all its respective characters belong to someone who is not, in fact, me, and the musical accompaniment, likewise, is not mine.  Which is...good, probably, since that would mean I'd be long dead by now. --;;

**SUMMARY:**  The mikos have failed to arrive, and the world is in chaos, leaving the Creator no choice but to wipe the world clean and begin again—but, it will mean destroying everyone and everything.  Can the dragon god and the Suzaku seishi save it before it's too late?

**NOTES:**  First of all, **YET ANOTHER STORY by PURPLE MOUSE _has_ been updated!!!  **It didn't show up on the main page for some reason—she angered the ff.net gods, apparently—and, as such, not many of the readers seem to be aware that it HAS, indeed, been updated.  *nod*  So...go and read it!!  Now!!  

...waitwait, not RIGHT now.  --;;  Read this first. ^_~.

Second of all, this is intended to be a SERIES.  _World's End_  is the title of the series, and "Descent" is the title of this particular fic.  There will be more fics after this one, then, y'see.  *nod*  Anyway.  I shall silence myself, now, and allow you to read.  *magnanimous bow* 

**World's End:  Book One**

**DESCENT**

Prologue:  Departure of the Dragon God

_Accompaniment:  "Fantasia in D Minor," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart_

~*~

The old woman's voice boomed through the darkness, stronger and louder than the most violent crack of thunder, yet as gentle as a mother's caress.  

"Much as I regret to make this decision," she began, eyes flickering to each of her listeners in turn, "it seems there is no other choice.  The countries are at war, destroying innocent and guilty alike, and with neither the Seiryuu nor Suzaku no Miko answering to our summons, it seems as if there will be no salvation for the conflict."

She paused, then, folding age-wrinkled hands before her chest, and waited.

The chamber--if it could be called that--was broad and limitless, stretching out into the infinities and bathed in nothing but darkness.  Yet, there _was_ light, silver and as pale as starlight, that seemed to float over the chamber's inhabitants of its own free will, whispering off the shoulders of the gods at some moments, circling them others, and often flickering onto the broad, ancient face of the Creator when it tired of that.  

The four gods themselves were arrayed in a respectful diamond in the center of the darkness, each currently in his human form so as to make communication simpler.  They sat crosslegged on the chamber "floor," facing the Creator with placid faces and calm, attentive eyes.  It was a long moment before any spoke.

"What are You saying?" Seiryuu asked at last, his voice low and slithering, the sound mildly startling after the voice of the Creator.  "We can do nothing without the Mikos.  They are the gateways between gods and mortals, after all.  Without them, we can do nothing but watch."  
  


Genbu closed his eyes, a line of anguish streaking through his smooth brow.  "There _is_ something we can do," he whispered.  "Even if we cannot intercede in the lives of the mortals without our mikos, we can alter the land around them."  
  


Seiryuu, seated at the head of the diamond, spun to face the quietest of his brothers.  "That is _ridiculous_," he spat.  "What would altering the earth around them accomplish?  Certainly, we could create a wall between the countries, but what would that solve?  Nothing at all.  There would be wars among the people trapped within those walls, and no way of fleeing into other countries to s--"  
  


The dragon god halted, startled, as a gentle hand touched his arm; he turned to find Suzaku gripping his bicep, the phoenix's crimson eyes flickering with bright, sorrowful flame.  "Brother," he murmured, "be still.  You're mistaken.  That is not what She intends."

Seiryuu turned back to the Creator, his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed tightly together, and glared.  "Then, what?  What do you intend?  I'm obviously not as quick of mind as my brothers, as I truly have no idea as to what you intend."

The Creator bowed her head, a touch of sadness trickling into her expression.  "Seiryuu," she said quietly, "despite your temper, you have always been the gentlest and most innocent of my children."  Her hands clasped more tightly together.  "Very well.  I will explain."  Seeming to steel herself against what she was about to say, the Creator spent a moment in meditation, then lifted her head, stared into the eyes of her children gods.  When she spoke, it was in a voice that barely lifted beyond a murmur, but which echoed in the ears of all four as if she had been shouting.

"The world," she began slowly, "has reached a state where it is beyond redemption.  The final mikos have not been found, and may never _be_ found, as they were summoned almost a full year ago and still have not arrived, and thus we can no longer rely on the hope of intervening in the lives of the mortals in that way.  Things have simply gone too far.  Evil abounds in the world, seeping even into the ranks of the shichiseishi themselves, and as the Guardians of this world, it is our duty to keep this from descending any further.  These souls were not created to live in misery, but to grow and work and learn to live with one another, and although certainly a number would be led to evil, the good would always outweigh the bad, and the world would continue.  This was the pact that was made with the first mortals, long ago--the good must always outweigh the bad, and there must always be the shine of hope on the horizon, for life to continue."

She trailed off, her voice going even softer.

"But the pact has been broken.  Evil abounds in the world, far outweighing the good at heart, and without the Mikos, I fear that things will only grow worse.  The one who calls himself Tenkou has gone far in the corruption of the world, but it is not only he who causes it.  The souls themselves have been tainted, many beyond redemption, I fear, even into their next lives.  So, we are left with but one choice."

Seiryuu suddenly sat up a little straighter; his eyes were wide, his lips slightly parted as if he were trying to speak but failing.  Sensing his brother's shock, Suzaku stretched out to him, placed a firm hand on the other's shoulder; Byakko, on Seiryuu's left, gripped the dragon's other arm.  

The Creator nodded slowly, sadly.  "Yes.  It has come to this.  We must cleanse the world of this evil in the only way possible, and begin anew.  It is the only way."

Despite the calming hands holding him, Seiryuu leaped to his feet, his entire body trembling with rage.  "YOU CANNOT DO THIS!" he shrieked, lunging as if to strike the Creator who sat calmly before him.  "It will mean destroying EVERYTHING and EVERYONE!  You can't!"

"Seiryuu," the Creator said gently, "be still.  It will be painful, yes, but it is the only way.  The evil has tainted every life, and every soul.  They live in misery, Seiryuu.  Who are you to keep them in that misery when there is hope of relief?"

The dragon god stared at her for a long time before speaking, anguished tears welling in his eyes.  His brother gods stood behind him, Genbu with palms pressed to his back, Suzaku and Byakko gripping his shoulders.  Despite these comforting touches, however, Seiryuu was inconsolable, hanging his head as the very human tears trickled over his cheeks.

"How will it be done?" he whispered.

She did not blink or otherwise alter her facial expression; her voice, however, spoke of a deep and abiding sorrow.  "A great flood.  It is the simplest, and the...gentlest.  It will reach above even the highest tops of the mountains, and cleanse the world of all evil."  Her words sank noticeably.  "None will be spared."

Seiryuu turned his face away.  "But, they are our _children_," he managed, his usually-booming voice little more than a whisper now.  "Lifetime after lifetime, we've watched them grow, learn...  How can we destroy them--all of them--and start over?  It isn't fair."  
  


Suzaku sighed.  "You are being selfish, Brother."  
  


"Maybe I am.  But..."  The dragon god shook his head, sending tiny drops of moisture floating off into the darkness.  "But, do you honestly believe that _they_ want this?"  
  


"They do not know what they want, Brother."  
  


"They know that they don't want to die!  To be...wiped out of existence, as if they never existed at all!"  Seiryuu took a long, jarring step forward, breaking free of the comforting hands of his brothers, and stood straight-backed before the Creator, staring into her unwavering gaze with defiance and anger.  "Taiitsukun!" he shouted, causing a flicker of surprise to streak into her eyes at the use of her human title.  "There must be another way!"

"Brother," said Byakko, sliding forward, "there _is_ no other way.  Weren't you listening?"  
  


Seiryuu didn't even glance backwards.  "No.  I don't believe that.  There _is_ another way.  There must be.  It cannot have come to this."  
  


Taiitsukun's voice was soft.  "And if it has?"  
  


The dragon god's head dropped, an anguished shudder working its way through his body until it seemed he would fall to his knees in the darkness.  "Then I want no part of what is to come."

Suzaku, Genbu, and Byakko exchanged worried glances; it was the phoenix god, at last, who strode to their wayward brother's side and spoke.  "Seiryuu," he said quietly, "you have to be a part of it.  If you're not..."  He shook his head.  "You'll be sent to the earth, become a mortal--Kutou will have no god!  You'll be swallowed into oblivion with the mortals!  You're not thinking clearly."  
  


Seiryuu stared straight ahead, eyes sightless and glazed, and, slowly, shook his head.  "No," he whispered.  "No, I _am_ thinking clearly.  I..."  He turned, stared at his brother gods with a look of awe on his features.  "I'm not going to help you.  I'm...I'm going to be destroyed with them."

"Enough of this!" Byakko exclaimed angrily.  "Taiitsukun, tell him that he cannot do this."  
  


The Creator's gaze remained levelly on the dragon god.  "Seiryuu," she said quietly, "you would do this, for your children? You would let yourself be destroyed with them, lose all your powers as god?"

There wasn't even a second of hesitation.  "Yes," he answered firmly.  "I would."

Taiitskun nodded.  "Very well," she said.  She raised a hand, then, and before any of the gods could protest or say so much as a word, a blue halo had formed around Seiryuu's body, and he was being lifted up into the air above them, where he came to a slow halt and floated.  Taiitsukun's eyes drifted closed; the hand that seemed to be holding Seiryuu into place dipped into a small circle, sending the dragon god rotating onto his back in the air.  The old woman's other hand, then, lifted straight up above her head, and--moving very slowly, her face tense in concentration--began the descent towards the other hand, which had turned to face its approaching counterpart, palm towards it.  

Suzaku lunged forward, eyes going wide.  "NO!" he shrieked.

But, just as he was about to reach her, the woman's palms pressed into one another, and suddenly there was a brilliant flash of blue light.  It arced out from her chest in a ball of light and energy, sending Suzaku soaring backwards into the arms of his two remaining brothers; after the initial leap, the ball began to travel at a more casual pace, floating upwards towards the prone form of the dragon god as gently as a soap bubble.  Then, just as it was about to reach him, the ball flattened and expanded, a narrow hole forming at the top of it, and even as Suzaku screamed, it washed over Seiryuu's body like a rush of water, and swallowed him into itself.

Seiryuu lay silent beneath the flood of blue light, still as death, eyes lightly closed.  Carefully, Taiitsukun lowered her hands, and the dragon god drifted to the "floor" of the chamber, the light fading as he fell.  By the time his body touched against the solidity of the darkened ground, the light was gone, and so, seemingly, was the god.  He lay limp at Taiitsukun's feet, unmoving, and did not move even when his brothers ran to his side and gripped his arms, shook him as if to wake him...

"Why?" Suzaku demanded after a few moments had passed, glaring up at the Creator with tears in his eyes.  "Why did you do this?  He didn't mean it!"  
  


Taiitsukun closed her eyes.  "He _did_ mean it, Suzaku.  He meant it as truly as Seiryuu has ever meant anything, and you are well aware that even I cannot deny what a god truly, truly wishes to come true."  
  


Byakko leaped to his feet.  "Well, then, I wish for Seiryuu to be returned to us!"

Before Taiitsukun could reply, however, Genbu had risen and moved to his brother's side, shaken his head slowly.  "But, it is not what Seiryuu wants," he murmured, turning to stare down at their motionless brother.  "Look at him, Byakko.  He is at peace.  Have you ever seen him so before?"  
  


Taiitsukun floated forward, hands pressed together in front of her again, and slowly lowered herself so she sat just beside Seiryuu.  Her aged hands reached out to press against the dragon god's chest, and when she touched him, his lips parted in a sudden surge of breath.  _Real _breath, his brother gods noted.  Human, _mortal_ breath.

"Don't fear," Taiitsukun whispered, bringing one hand up to caress Seiryuu's forehead.  "Your brother is not lost, yet, despite what you may think.  There is a way to save the world, and to prevent this destruction."

The three gods stared at each other in silence for a moment, then rounded on the Creator with matching glares on their faces.  

"What?" Byakko growled.  

Genbu, meanwhile, gave an exasperated sigh.  "You didn't think to tell us this _before_?"

Taiitsukun drew her hands back to their prayer-like position before her chest, then floated upwards so she was at eye level with the three remaining gods.  "It was not possible before.  But now, with Seiryuu giving himself into the mortal world, it is possible."  
  


Suzaku's face was solemn.  "What is it?  What can be done?"  
  


"Seiryuu," Taiitsukun rumbled, "must travel into the Other World and find the remaining Miko."

There was a long pause, another quick exchange of glances.

"He will do this," Taiitsukun continued, sensing their unasked questions, "through the use of a Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, which only one with the knowledge of a god is capable of utilizing for such a quest.  He will need, however, the cooperation of the seven seishi of whichever Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho he uses, and must take them with him into the other world, or he will have no way of returning with the Miko once she is found."  
  


Genbu studied the Creator silently for a moment, then nodded, as if a number of pieces had just fallen together to his satisfaction.  "Of course," he said.  "Without the seven seishi, and with Seiryuu just a mortal with godly knowledge, he would be unable to create enough energy alone to travel to the other world.  But..."  He frowned.  "Which Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho would he use?"  
  


Byakko lifted an eyebrow.  "His own would be logical."

"Logical, yes," Genbu admitted, "but not possible.  Seiryuu is no longer a god.  Without him, the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho given to his shichiseishi is nothing but a scroll.  His shichiseishi, in fact, are nothing but ordinary mortals, now.  No.  He must use one of ours, and utilize the shichiseishi of whomever's he uses."  
  


"I will volunteer my seishi," Byakko rumbled.  "They--"  
  


"Are growing old," Genbu interjected.  "And besides, their miko has come and gone.  No.  No, it can't be either of us, Byakko.  It must be Suzaku."  
  


The phoenix god drew himself to his full height, the flames that forever lingered in his eyes flickering as he spoke.  "Yes," he agreed quietly.  "Without Seiryuu, there is only Suzaku no Miko to be found.  With the Suzaku no shichiseishi accompanying him, Seiryuu would have a better chance of finding her.  The Other World is, after all, a large place.  And much more complicated than this world."  
  


"Then it is decided, "Taiitsukun announced grandly.  "Seiryuu-Seikun, Former Dragon God of Kutou, will be sent into Konan to gather the shichiseishi and travel with them into the Other World.  There, he will find Suzaku no Miko, return her to Konan, and make the three wishes that can save this world from oblivion."  
  


"And, if he fails," Genbu murmured, bowing his head to stare down at his motionless, mortal brother, "even the will of the gods won't save him, or this world."  
  


Taiitsukun regarded them solemnly.  "Hope, then," she whispered, "that he succeeds."

~*~


	2. Chapter I, Part I: Descent

**Disclaimer:**  If it were mine, would you love me?   

**Author's Note:**  Hullooo!  Great, big, immense, huuuuuge thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!!  ^___^.  Anyway, as I'd like to take the 'Risen' approach to this fic and focus solely on it until it's finished (hopefully), I'm going to do as in Risen, and split some chapters so as to get them out more quickly. *nod*  Sooooo, here's the first part of Chapter One.  I'll be working on the second part whenever I get a spare moment, but it might be awhile as I have work.  So.  Anyway.  On with the fic!  

~*~

Chapter One:  Descent [1]

_Accompaniment:  Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, by Ludwig van Beethoven_

As gently as a feather, Seiryuu floated.  The sky was a mist of white and powdery blue around him, and despite the fact that he was suspended higher than the highest mountains, he felt nothing of dizziness or vertigo or even the smallest ounce of fear.  This could have been, he reasoned, because he was so unaccustomed to dealing with the idea that he could die, or it could have been because he had done this many times before in the past--floated, high above the world, and gazed down on his children as they worked and lived and died.

He felt a flicker of gratitude within him, that the Creator had allowed him to enjoy this calming pasttime once more before damning him to the world below; already, he realized, he was drifting downwards, being lowered gently towards the ground, where his mortal life would begin and end.  Strangely, though, he did not fear the coming end, any more than he feared the thought that the invisible grip on his body might unexpectedly slip, send him tumbling down through the air--he felt nothing, he found, but peace and a vague kind of comfort, as if, somehow, this had been what he'd spent all of his endless centuries waiting for.

_Seiryuu..._

It was Her.  The voice seemed to come from within himself, within the mind of this new mortal body, but he could feel Her presence around him, filling him and fulfilling him--reminding him that he was _not_ alone, even when the voices of his brothers were forever lost to him.  He gave himself a moment to savor the familiarity of Her presence, and for a moment, things were as they always had been.  

Suddenly overwhelmed with a sadness he didn't entirely understand, Seiryuu gazed down on the world below him, the world he was moving ever closer to, and spent a long moment just _looking _at it.

Although he had spent all of his life in the realm of the gods, he had always been intrigued by the world of the mortals.  There was such beauty in it:  the rise of the mountains--distant peaks of azure and violet, bathed in green-leafed seas that seemed to sway in time with the pulse of the earth around them; the smooth, glassy stretches of the lakes, gleaming silvery-blue in even the brightest sunlight; the many fields, whether they be rows of yellow-brown corn stalks or a colorful flood of wildflowers.  But, even with all the beauty of the natural world, what had always intrigued him the most were those pieces of beauty that belonged entirely to the mortals.  It had shocked him, the first time, to realize that these humans, these children whom they had created from the very dust of the earth, were capable of creating beauty to rival even the most brilliant sunsets, the most stunning array of painted clouds.

They had created buildings, formed from the stone and wood of the world around them, some that stretched up towards the sky and others that were content to lie closer to the ground, squat but still beautiful.  They had altered the land, also, making way for their neatly-ordered cities and smaller, scattered towns; they had removed trees, planted trees, dammed great bodies of water, constructed massive bridges that conquered the barriers of rivers and lakes.  And, they had planted gardens.  

He was drawing closer to the land, now, and thus was aware of the fact that he was not moving in a direct line of descent, but rather was floating forwards, moving towards one of those gardens--moving towards the sloped red roof of the Imperial Palace of Konan.  He remembered, once, that he'd slipped closer to the palace in order to see the garden, for it truly was a work of beauty--trees and flowers imported from all over the four countries, some tall, some squat, some slender, but all full of a vibrant, colorful beauty that remained, even during the cooler winter months.  Of course, Konan was the warmest of the countries, and the palace rested far enough south that the path-lined rows of flowers, shrubs, and trees rarely if ever saw a frost, let alone a flake of snow.  

_Is this where I'm going? _he asked silently, confused.  _To the gardens?_

There was a moment's pause; he still lay high enough above the world that none of the bustling villagers below, dressed in their drab earth tone colors, were likely to see him, but he was drifting lower and lower as he moved towards the gardens.  

Her reply was like a whisper in his mind, barely heard--now that he thought of it, it did seem as if Her presence were thinning around him, as if She were pulling back, pulling away.  Was She...leaving him?

_I cannot help you much, Seiryuu_, She replied.  _Speaking to you now requires all of my attention, and it is only possible because you have not yet been placed on the ground of the mortal world.  As you grow nearer to it, though, you drift farther away from me, and once you touch it, you will have broken away enough that I will no longer be able to speak to you.  From that moment on, the only way you may seek my advice is by speaking to my human form.  As for the gardens--yes.  That is where you are being placed, to begin this great journey.  Although I cannot tell you much, I can tell you that you will find at least one of the Suzaku shichiseishi there, and that he will help you to find the rest.  _

A flicker of panic slid into him--it was not a feeling he was accustomed to.

_I won't be able to speak to You anymore?_

He had passed over the great wall that surrounded the Imperial Palace, was floating towards the colorful expanse of the gardens.  As he moved, her voice seemed to fade even more, to grow to nothing more than a delicate feather-touch against his mind.   

_You will be able to speak to me whenever you need to, my Child.  I just will not be able to answer._

And then, as if a great door had slammed closed in his mind, she was gone, and he was alone.

~*~

He knew nothing of the rest of his descent, but that when he came back to himself, he was lying on his back amidst a thicket of lilies, and there were tears in his eyes.  The sky was vast and blue above him, visible through the breaks in the trees, and the smell of earth and pollen was all around him, pungent and thick.  Birdsong trickled into his ears at sporadic intervals, sometimes long and melodic, other times short and gurgling; and, for the first time in his life, there was the murmur of human voices.  They were hushed, blending together at times and fading away at others, but they were always there, and he would've been very content to lie there and listen to them until the sun had flattened itself onto the horizon.  

Unfortunately, the heavy shape that thudded onto his chest a moment later had other ideas.

There was a very high-pitched shriek--"YiiiiiAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"--and then, Seiryuu felt a sudden pressure against his chest, and discovered with some alarm that he could not draw breath.

_No!  _He struggled, wheezing, eyes squeezed tight with the efforts to regain control of his respiration, but found that no amount of willing himself to breathe would allow him to.  _No, I cannot die now--not now, when I have just arrived!  Taiitsukun!  You cannot allow it!_

The physical pressure against his chest lifted, then, and a whisper of warm air tickled against his cheek even as a soft, apologetic voice reached his ears.  "Ahah, gomen ne.  I was looking at something else, and I guess I must've--"  The voice paused; utterly consumed in trying to force the breath back into his lungs, Seiryuu barely noticed the slim fingers that clutched his shoulders, drawing him up from the ground.  "Ne, are you all right?"  
  


He was just starting to feel light-headed, as if he were floating up towards the sky again, when something slapped a quick rhythm against his back, and he began to cough.  With the coughs came breath, and with the breath, a gradual end to the panic.  

It wasn't until he was breathing normally again, the trembles beginning to slow from his limbs, that Seiryuu opened his eyes, and realized with some embarrassment that there was more than one set of eyes on him.  Those that he focused on, however, were those directly above him.  

They were large and rimmed in black, the lashes thick and full, all a stark contrast to the muddled violet, pink, and brown that swam in the eyes themselves.  Above the eyes rested slim, arched brows, and below them a pert nose, lips painted a soft pink, and a smooth, slightly-rounded chin.  

As his eyes flickered from one place to the other, he realized that the owner of those features was sitting just beside him in the patch of flowers, legs folded beneath a flood of royal-blue skirts, and that one of her arms had been wrapped behind his shoulders to hold him in a sitting position above the ground.  A flood of unadorned violet hair washed over the young woman's shoulders, some of it tickling against the former god's arm in the breeze; she reached up to sweep it away from her face as she spoke, the grace of the motion seeming to suggest that she was well aware of its beauty.  

"Ne," she said softly, "daijobu ka?"

He coughed again, more to break free of the spell of her presence than anything else, and managed to move his head in an awkward nod.  "H...Hai."

His voice sounded weak, even to his own ears, not at all the booming tenor he had possessed when he was a god.  It still sounded like the voice he associated with himself, but it was...lacking something.  Or, perhaps he just needed to adjust to forming words with breath, rather than thought.

Seiryuu cleared his throat, glancing briefly at the cluster of well-clothed women peering at him from the edge of the lily patch, and tried again.  "Thank you," he said firmly, drawing an extra long breath to give it more strength, "for saving me.  However you did it, I am in your debt..."  He paused, waiting expectantly.

The woman lifted an eyebrow.  "My name is Kourin."  The cultured brow lifted a bit higher.  "But, I didn't save you.  You just had the wind knocked out of you--nothing life-threatening."  Her eyes narrowed.  "Are you sure you're all right?  I could have one of my maids summon the palace doctor, or--"  
  


Seiryuu reached out, gripped the young woman's arm.  "Are you telling me," he asked urgently, "that what I just experienced could _not_ have killed me?  That...that it was a--"  He swallowed.  "--normal part of being human?"  
  


Kourin frowned, glancing briefly at the hand gripping her arm before turning, nodding to her maids.  "One of you," she commanded, "go and find the doctor and bring him here.  Hayaku."

There was a fluttered murmur of assent from the girls; a moment later, one of them had broken away from the group and was hurrying off down the path, only a rustle of cloth and the thud of feet on dirt to mark her passing.  He returned his attention to Kourin to find her frowning down at him, having lowered him back onto the ground.  Her lips were pursed, eyebrows pushed together on her forehead, and there was something about the way she was looking at him...

"Ne," she said at last, sounding suddenly cautious, "who are you, anyway?"

~*~

_[Part two of chapter one, hopefully Coming Soon!  Until then, feel free to let me know what you think!  Arrigatooooooo!  ~Ryuen]_


End file.
